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GlutinousMaximus
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Posts posted by GlutinousMaximus
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I on the other hand recommend you buy in order to save on wasted rental payments, if you think you need some protection, take out an usufruct.
Sadly you will only ever hear from nervous and overly cautious expats on this subject or from the ones that can't afford to buy, the satisfied farang/Thai owners are content to get on with their lives without needing to constantly bleat on about how unsafe the country for foreigners and how dangerous it is to invest here. Big yawn!
It's not those factors that concern me - it's the illiquidity of Thai property.Usurfucts also don't strike me as 100% cast-iron (just Google this forum for caveats about them).Even if you only spend 1 million on building a house, well up in Issan, I can rent a decent house + garden for 6k a month. Do the math as the Americans say - 6k a month = 70K a year, so 1 million buys you approx 14 years of rental living - not bad at all (try doing that in the West)......plus if DJ Somchai moves in next door with his 2000 Watt sound system, you just up sticks and go somewhere else. -
Very good advice here.Mortgage rates in Thailand aren't particularly cheap (compared to the UK for example) so let's say you borrowed 2 million baht at 6% interest (and it will probably be more than that), then just servicing the interest could cost around 120K a year (obviously that goes down over time) - you could get a really nice rental pad for that.It's not like the UK where you have a reasonable expectation of properties going up in value over time and where you can dispose of it easily at market value. Your Thai property may or may not appreciate and if it doesn't you're in negative equity. Add to that the fact thatThai property can be an extremely illiquid asset unless you own something on a busy road for example (and let's not get into whether you're still going to be with your partner x years down the road).If you're really set on owning property, think about getting a cheap parcel of land first (may not be possible if you're in BKK though), then building something like the locals do for maybe 500K on a piecemeal basis as time allows. You could do it over time - get the shell up, then tile it when you have a bit more money etc. I've seen tidy little bungalows and such-like up here in Issan built for that sort of money and I could think of worse places to live.
You would have to lease the land...definitely.
The house (materials and such)...I would agree. Build slowly. I am looking at knockdown homes...and I would be willing to put one up on troubled land. (Have an agreement with the owner for a prolonged length of time..for leasing a chunk). Money would have to go directly to the bank. I do not see this as cheaper than just renting. Building...plus leasing land...is going to cost more than just renting and existing home.
Buy vs lease depends very much on location - you could get 1 rai freehold land up in Issan (nothing special but OK) for maybe 200-300K a rai, and you could get away with a 400sq metre plot (1/4 rai) to build a house on, so let's say 100K for that.From the OP's post, I believe his Thai partner will own the property & he's cool with that (so no restrictions on freehold ownership).It probably isn't cheaper than just renting, however you do have an asset, and if you could get it built in say a 2-3 year time-frame, then after that you could live rent and mortgage free.If I ever invested in property in Thailand again, that's the route I would take where I'd spend max one million on land + house, and if I had to walk away from it, it's no great loss. -
Very good advice here.Mortgage rates in Thailand aren't particularly cheap (compared to the UK for example) so let's say you borrowed 2 million baht at 6% interest (and it will probably be more than that), then just servicing the interest could cost around 120K a year (obviously that goes down over time) - you could get a really nice rental pad for that.It's not like the UK where you have a reasonable expectation of properties going up in value over time and where you can dispose of it easily at market value. Your Thai property may or may not appreciate and if it doesn't you're in negative equity. Add to that the fact thatThai property can be an extremely illiquid asset unless you own something on a busy road for example (and let's not get into whether you're still going to be with your partner x years down the road).If you're really set on owning property, think about getting a cheap parcel of land first (may not be possible if you're in BKK though), then building something like the locals do for maybe 500K on a piecemeal basis as time allows. You could do it over time - get the shell up, then tile it when you have a bit more money etc. I've seen tidy little bungalows and such-like up here in Issan built for that sort of money and I could think of worse places to live.
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Hear hear OP, I too am a FB widower (there's both good and bad points about that as people have observed).I've often wondered what the gender split is with core Facebook users (i.e. people who are active as opposed to having a dormant account). My suspicion is that it's an overwhelmingly female demographic that drives the platform growth.I'm also horrified at how casual people are about including you in their digital fishbowl - go out for a meal and pretty soon some twit will be taking a group photo and 2 seconds later it's on the Internet. Objecting to that just makes you come over like an old fogey (guilty as charged), however people don't even give it a second thought or ask if you'd mind the erosion of your privacy. Modern manners have gone out the window IMO.BTW bbbbooboo - it's right about now that we could do with one of your classic "stupid is what stupid does" posts...
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In response to the OP's wailing and gnashing of teeth - I hear you! In no particular order, here are my thoughts:Re your young 'disrespectful' relatives, try engaging with any person under 25 in farangland & getting more than a monosyllabic answer out of them.Passivity is super-prevalent here. It's a low-risk approach to any kind of interaction because if you say and do nothing, little harm can befall you.There was another topic a while back where the OP was bemoaning the lack of conversation in Thailand - i.e. how hard it was to get one going (with Thais). That's been my experience too. Sure you can exchange a few pleasantries and a bit of light chit-chat, but beyond that forget about it (plus the language barrier doesn't help). No-one (in my experience) initiates an ongoing chat and if they do, any conversational gambits are pretty tired - e.g. 'can you eat spicy food?' I also don't see much of the easy-going socialising that you get in farangland where it's no big deal to chat to people at a barbecue or a party or wherever & you might even become casual friends with them. There's just generally a lot more social mixing going on (it seems to me) back home.Thais appear to keep more to their own small social and family groups. They have a saying here: "the more people you know, the more problems you'll have" - how very true!A lot of the locals have lived quite sheltered lives with limited experience outside their immediate circle & may not even have travelled outside their home town.'Cosmopolitan' & 'urbane' are not adjectives I would typically use. That's not necessarily their fault - a lot of people here have to lead very constrained lives out of necessity. For 90% of the population, they may as well fly to the moon as hop on a plane and visit a foreign country as most farangs are able to do at will. As a result, they don't have a particularly wide frame of reference.As a thought experiment, try imagining yourself in the bosom of your family back in the US or wherever and your daughter marries a man from a country you maybe turn your nose up a little bit at - are you going to welcome him with open arms to the family barbecues even if he splashes the cash? Furthermore, I believe a distaste for miscegenation is instictively ingrained in most cultures. In some respects however, Thais are fairly liberal on that score and farangs are tolerated reasonably well. Try marrying an orthodox Jewish or Sikh woman back in your own country for example - it ain't going to be popular with her fam-damily. Now with the advent of the internet and what with the rigours of living in feminised western countries driving them away, a lot of the beta males and misfits are turning their eyes towards the orient where there is a growing industry of 'mia farang' in Thailand ready to meet the demand. It all makes for a bit of a strange beast.Looking the quality of the plane loads of (predominantly male) farangs that arrive in LOS with one thing on their minds, I can't say I really blame them for being cagey. I'm also wary of most other farangs I meet unless I'm introduced to them socially. I speak from experience here, one fellow Brit I bumped into in Big C proceeded immediately to tell me abut his extra-marital activities in the girlie bars, rounded off with the observation "it's better than w*nking isn't it?" - charmed I'm sure! Another Brit I met looked like he had recently had a stroke and it was only by the deft movement of my sandalled feet that I managed to avoid his dribble falling on them.Thailand is not yet fully PC (and is some ways, thank goodness for that). By my estimation, it's stuck at a cultural outlook somewhere around where the UK was circa 1974, the era of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' and 'Til Death Do Us Part' (very un-PC programs with terrible racial sterotyping). You've only got to take a look around your nearest Big C - e.g. see the 'Black Man' branded mops openly on sale and/or the 'little Sambo' garden ornaments in plain view at any garden centre. It wasn't that long ago that 'Darlie' toothpaste was called something much worse. Farangs just don't fit into their (fairly rigid) social structures and instead lie somewhere on a comedic spectrum 'beyond the pale'.
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A few people on this thread have mentioned never to take a Thai girl to your home country.... why? Is that based on the slim chance that when she's got a passport she will ultimately do one?
Yes there is that - plus check out the divorce laws in <insert your farang homeland here> vs those in Thailand. I'm no expert, but as far as I'm aware, under Thai divorce law, you get to keep any assets that were yours before the marriage. If you're divorced in farangland, no such restrictions apply.Divorce laws can be also be very hazy about 'domicile' and 'country of residence' etc. , so even if you lived back in farangland just for a few years, the divorce laws might work against you. It's no coincidence that women married to wealthy men who have quite tenuous connections to the UK are moving heaven and earth to get their cases tried there (because they're so advantageous to women).I would say to anyone considering marriage, treat it like a business contract. I'd say it's definitely worth spending maybe 500 dollars on a 1-2 hour consultation with a good divorce lawyer to see what the ramifications might be for you down the road if things go pear-shaped (bearing in mind also that in 10+ years' time you could be considerably wealthier). -
Hi OPId say to you "Proceed with caution"If you're from farangland where female attention and affection is rarer than chicken's teeth, it can be very flattering to have women come on to you especially after an extended period of 'drought' back home. The locals here know all that and have a standardised playbook of flattery techniques for farang suckers honed over 50+ years (not that I'm saying you are).Not sure also what your experience is in Thailand, but you could give some consideration to 'sexual market value' - as a farang, yours is relatively high (even if you're 60+) as others here have pointed out. I've been to villages all over the NE of Thailand and I've lost count of the times I've heard "I want a farang husband, do you have any brothers/cousins/nephews for me?"I'm not saying all here are like that, however think very carefully indeed about marriage. If you're embarking on a relationship which has some iffy aspects, why do you need the government to be involved if you want to cut and run? If you haven't heard, marriage is seriously going out of fashion (at least for men). If it were me, and someone was manoeuvring me towards marriage, I wouldn't be led into the paddock.I'd say "happy to stay with you 'longtime' darling, but marriage is a big no-no for me given my past experience". Procreation is a different matter - good luck to you if you are into that (and nothing wrong with passing on your genes!) but I'd check out what that opens you up to in terms of potential maintenance under Thai law etc.Even some Thais get "married" with a Buddhist ceremony etc., but don't actually sign marriage contracts so it has no legal standing. I've seen that a lot with rich Vietnamese immigrant families where I live - they have dynastic arranged marriages but are careful to preserve and protect their family fortunes from the grabbing hands of disgruntled spouses. As a compromise, you could offer that and see what she says. It's also a good test of her intentions - if she genuinely likes you, she'll be happy to stay with you on your terms.You seem genuine (i.e. not a troll) so your instincts are right asking for advice on here and as you can see from (some) of the responses, you're tapping into a wealth of experience.
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Take a clean piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and list the pros and cons of marriage in each column. You may find the pros list tends to be quite shortIf you want, I can give you some suggestions. Alternatively Google "Don't Marry" for plenty of top tips.
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The driver pulling into the path of the oncoming vehicle - looks like standard MO for most drivers on Thai roads.I see it every day - they pull in front of you and expect you to stop in time (even if you're barrelling along at 90 km/h). They either don't care, don't plan ahead, or just think it's the way things are done.From what I've observed, the usual concepts of 'priority' and 'lane discipline' just don't apply here, probably because most drivers are 'self-taught' and don't seem to be able to work out the rules of the road for themselves.Lane discipline on multi-lane highways is also non-existent. If a car in an adjacent lane is running out of road, they will immediately pull into your lane without warning (or signalling). It happened to a Thai acquainance of mine recently - a pickup moved out into their lane to avoid a motorbike, clipped them and they spun off the road (car was a write-off, they were OK). When I'm overtaking a car now on a multi-lane highway, I'm constantly scanning for any slight indication that they're about to change lane and allow some contingency to deal with it.
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Not sure about barometers - the weather stone is a fairly trusty indicator however.
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The previous posters have made good points - a lot of local places are run by Thai families and they're prepared to graft hard all month for maybe 20K-30K of profit (plus they eat off the business). As a farang, I'm not prepared to do that.Staff pilfering is a real issue and you need to be on site all the time (or have good security systems which are expensive and not foolproof). Theft from business takes many forms, it's not just nicking the takings, it can be selling food underpriced to relatives/friends as well as lifting expensive ingredients like meat, booze, seafood etc. which is hard to detect unless you reserve the right to search employees (which obviously isn't popular). As an example, we had a maid nicking from us by putting our stuff in the rubbish (clothes etc.), depositing it down the road, and picking it up on her way home.Hygiene is another issue - we've all seen filthy dishcloths being used to wipe tables over here, a practice which would get you shut down in farangland. Training the staff to observe hygiene standards can be an uphill struggle. Plus being in the tropics you have plenty of vermin, rats, roaches, weevils etc. to contend with.Staff can be also unreliable - "my mother is ill today, I can't come in" being a typical line from your head chef one hour before you're due to open and/or the staff disappear for weeks at a time at rice planting season. Can you deal with that, do you have backup systems in place?Selling it on may not be easy either (I speak as someone trying to extricate myself from a restaurant venture).In my experience, the locals also don't have a high level of discretionary spending available to them. That picture is changing as Thailand develops and there's definitely more money sloshing around than 20 years ago, however a lot of people can't drop 1,000baht on a meal more than say once or twice a month.I don't want to rain on your parade, but the restaurant business is full of failed ventures and broken dreams. If you've run a restaurant before, fair enough. If you haven't, it's quite a challenge. You have to put in an awful lot of hours and there are a multitude of tasks to attend to (shopping, repairs and renewals, staff issues to name but a few).It's definitely not a 'zero touch' business.Having said all that, there can be money in it. The big boys (S&P, Pizza Co, Black Canyon etc.) all have nationwide chains and seem to do OK (although they have watertight operational procedures plus economies of scale). There's a cowboy-styled steak restaurant not far from me which has a petting field with sheep and goats and they're full most weekends when I drive past. I get the impression though that certain types of restaurants can be 'in trend' for a while and how they fare after that fizzles out is anyone's guess.If you're still minded to do it, I would recommend you do some local market research. Spend time hanging around (or in) other restaurants - how many punters do they have, what times of day, what's the party size, how much are they spending? I'd also get a spreadsheet going if you haven't already with some columns for overheads/costs vs takings etc. so that you can 'flex' the results easily to understand worst-case scenarios - e.g. what happens if you have no customers for a week?Whatever you decide to do - good luck!
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Speaking of overloaded baht buses/songthaews, I've only ever noticed men and boys hanging off the back. It's almost like there's an unspoken agreement that the girls get to ride safely inside while the (presumably more disposable) males take their chances on the back?
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I just did my 90-day report in person. I was 2 days past the due date (which is OK) and the accepting officer (who was no youngster) queried it in Thai with his colleague only to be told to proceed (good to know they're so well-appraised of their own rules).A female officer came over and told me about doing the 90-day online next time 15 days before expiry date. Five minutes later she reminded me again (obviously a hard sell type deal). Then she had her colleague officer take a picture of me (with his iPhone - so professional) & I heard her say in Thai "send it via LINE".Odd....never had that before. Next time I'm still going to apply in person as their office is only a 5-minute ride away from me. At least then you're in no doubt that you're up-to-date and haven't fallen between the technical cracks.
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I'm with the OP on this.The thing I find hard to reconcile is that for a (supposedly) deeply Buddhist country, they give so little consideration to the unnecessary pain and suffering they've inflicted on the animals and/or fish that have died for their meal and have been wasted. They don't seem to consider that there's potential 'barp' (de-merit) accruing from their actions.
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Have you heard that research scientists have found a type of food that reduces a woman's libido by 90%It's called 'Wedding Cake'
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Yes I'm from the UK and female (funny how some people assume you must be male if you're posting on Thaivisa). I've been all over Thailand by car but it was my ex who drove then so I'm well aware of the conditions. I had considered hiring someone but tbh I feel happier and safer driving myself, I have experienced some horrific thai drivers, taxis, buses etc. The past few years I've been over I've always opted for public transport but this time I'll have a car seat and there's no way I'm taking my wee one in a car in Thailand without it
Sent from my C5303 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app
Fair enough - it sounds like you're well aware of the local driving scene.
Here's wishing you a very pleasant and safe trip - happy trails!
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I find it hard to understand why someone would hire a driver.....why compound the dangers of the Thai roads by actually paying for someone who is almost certainly less competent than oneself?
If it were me, and the choice was getting onto Thai roads with zero experience or hiring a professional driver affiliated with a hotel or somesuch which would allow me to take in the scenery while also tending to my young child, I know which I'd plump for.
I believe the OP mentioned he has experience driving in LOS and besides I'd still trust my own driving over ANY Thai or any other driver for that matter regardless.
With a profile name of girluk77, my assumption was that the OP is female (not that it's particularly germane to the topic in hand). The OP also said:
"I'm already a bit nervous about driving on thai roads and am wondering whether the transition to an automatic would be easy enough or should I try and find a manual car? I've previously lived in Thailand so do know what the roads are like, never drove before though"
You make a fair point however - any road journey in Thailand is not without a certain level of risk. At least if you're driving, you can adjust to conditions accordingly. One problem I suffer from though is carrying a whole set of unconscious/automatic assumptions acquired from driving experience in farangland, they just don't apply here and can get you into trouble. My guess is that phenomenon is even worse if you're new to driving in Thailand. However YMMV as they say.
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Statistically that would be the most probable result, but it doesn't mean they would be competent drivers. A short chat about the icons etc dotted about the dashboard could soon put that idea to rest.
OP - cumgranosalum has made a good point. If you do hire a car, don't forget to pick up a Buddha amulet in a market and glue it to the dashboard. For extra protection get a monk to paint some dots and wavy lines in the roof lining of the car and all will be well.
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I find it hard to understand why someone would hire a driver.....why compound the dangers of the Thai roads by actually paying for someone who is almost certainly less competent than oneself?
If it were me, and the choice was getting onto Thai roads with zero experience or hiring a professional driver affiliated with a hotel or somesuch which would allow me to take in the scenery while also tending to my young child, I know which I'd plump for.
"hiring a professional driver affiliated with a hotel or somesuch"- really??? you have much greater confidence than I do in Thai training and assessing standards.
Whatever - I think I've made my point. Let the OP decide.I've hired plenty of drivers in Thailand without any problems (including drivers that work for big hotels). -
I find it hard to understand why someone would hire a driver.....why compound the dangers of the Thai roads by actually paying for someone who is almost certainly less competent than oneself?
If it were me, and the choice was getting onto Thai roads with zero experience or hiring a professional driver affiliated with a hotel or somesuch which would allow me to take in the scenery while also tending to my young child, I know which I'd plump for.
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Hi girluk77
You seem to have plenty of answers about manual vs auto. From your profile I guess you're from the UK and will be hiring right-hand drive cars in Thailand (same as the UK). If you're from a left-hand drive country however, it can be very confusing driving a manual where the controls are on the other side - I hired a left-hand drive manual in Switzerland once (I'm from the UK) and it was difficult getting used to operating the gears/handbrake with the opposite hand.None of the other posters seemed to have mentioned that regardless of vehicle type, driving in Thailand is not for the faint hearted (especially if you've never done it before) - you'll find you're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy! There are many threads on the subject on TV e.g. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813333-thailands-roads-why-are-they-so-dangerous/There are plenty on Thai Visa that say "it's not so bad" however I am firmly in the "it's crazy out there" camp having driven over here for quite a few years. If you have kids in the car, take extra care and drive very defensively wherever possible - it's like Mad Max on the roads (especially the open roads).If you can stretch to hiring drivers (which is normally fairly easy and costs about 1,000 to 2,000 baht per day), taking buses, planes etc. then it's worth considering (although using buses is not risk free in Thailand either - see for example http://news.thaivisa.com/thaivisa-news/17-chinese-tourists-injured-in-bus-crash/60740/ )BTW - you'll also need a current international driving licence in case you get stopped at a roadside police check (which are fairly frequent).I don't want to put you off - Thailand is a lovely country to go touring in, lots of great things to see, but worth considering the safety angle too especially with children. -
Just Google it for your answer sorry, thousands, no wait millions have asked this before, ants in sugar . ants in food, ants in kitchen, ants in cupboard., Just get some ant killer !!!!!!
No more ants
That's the one I used - worked a treat and eradicated those pesky red ants.
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There is a kind of ant powder you can get in supermarkets (comes in little silver packets). Leave it out in dishes where you see them around and the ants eat it and apparently take it home to their nest where it kills the colony.For ages I was plagued with the little red fire ants all over the house. Not only did they bite you indiscriminately, but left holes in cotton clothes, got into electrical items and so on - a real pain they were.Anyway, after treating with this powder, they disappeared altogether and never came back (and I last used the powder literally years ago). Strange - almost like their hive mind knows our house is 'bad news'.Very occasionally I've had smaller black ants come in -- e.g if there's a bit of sugar spilled etc. and I just wipe them up with a wet cloth and then they disappear again.
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I started a thread to compliment the local drivers. You want the thread to be about the negative aspects of local drivers. Different subject.
I have no interest in trying to 'shut everyone up,' There is a button at the top of your page you can use to create your own thread about anything you wish to discuss. No one will stop you, and I promise I won't try to change the subject of your thread.
If you prefer to discuss the yin and yang of something, or discuss the negative aspects of local drivers, why not start a thread about that?
Just as other people do who have no interest in a subject, I promise I won't try to change the thread by discussing something other than its purpose, as you are doing here? Just what is your need instead to run roughshod over someone else's intent? Are you some sort of bully that has to force his ideas on others? If you want to discuss your ideas about bad driving, please do so. Just do it in your own thread about that. No one will stop you.
This thread is about the positive aspects of local drivers as the title says.
Mods... as the subject of this thread obviously can't go in its stated direction, I again request that you close this thread.
OP - your intention to start a positive thread about driving in Thailand is indeed commendable. Unfortunately, it just seems an unlikely combination...like recommending Kabul as a relaxing tourist destination.I've been scratching my head trying to think of instances of genuine courtesy I've experienced on the roads here (after quite a few years). So far I'm drawing a blank (plenty however in the debit column).My own belief is that the locals have a different concept of personal space - e.g. they don't object to being pushed in on at the 7-11 checkout (or even when transacting at the bank counter) which I as a Brit with a 3 metre exclusion zone around me find infuriating. This carries over to the roads and leads to the gentle melee you've witnessed in local Chiang Mai traffic - it's no big deal for them to jostle around at slow speeds.Spend a lot of time on the open roads however at higher speeds and it's much more dog eat dog.
Buying a House in Thailand.
in Real Estate, Housing, House and Land Ownership
Posted